MUSIC IN THE LIFE OF THE

INSTITUTIONS
The Church and the world

institutions which cultivated music, the Church was unlike

the medieval
Among the medieval

of all the institu-

n o t only the. largest and most comprehensive
other. It
was

any
a control that reached deep
into the fabric of society, it also
xercising
snecial musical mission. lo sing God's praise was part worship in the
of
stian
ewish and Christi traditions, so that a religious incentive existed to expand
Jewr
Furthermore, music had become a means for the
musical practice
refine
and
important task of the Church, that of spreading the faith (propagare
most
er
Church music addressed the world and this had
6do) i.e. of propaganda.
development.
for its own
repercussions
enormous
that music 'entangled the
Church with the world: with the
One could say Theologians and
in the first place. This was potentially dangerous.
senses,
had the task of keepingthis relationship in order
Church administrators
well-controlled hierarchy in which music, like all the other secular
preserving a
could neither
was kept in its proper
place. The Church as a whole
concerns, individual
as being "to0 worldly nor support it as an

reject music altogether particular pressure-groups,

choices had to be left to
patron' could. Such
organizations or individuals.2
other wealthy members of a
individual churchmen or
Many of these w e r e and later
have seen that the popes of Avignon
parish or cathedral chapter. We abilities as
of Rome employed composers in
their chapels and drew on their
and abbots who
and performers of secular music. Medieval bishops
Composers trumpeters and
held secular often demonstrated this by maintaining
lordships
and dance were admitted to
other minstrels in their private households; song
The earliest known n a m e of a
tneir palaces as to any other princely dwellings.3
Salzburg (see p. 345),
Hermann the Monk of
uTman composer of polyphony, II of Salzburg
a y be nothing but a pseudonym for Archbishop Pilgrim

become so different trom

musical tradition has
Pnaps the main reason why the western
th
those of other civilizations. Bowers and Cattin in
see the contributions by
COntroversy about the role of the Church,
EFenlon ed., MMEME. originated
Th of the thirteenth century,
burana, a collection of goliardic songs
probably
amina
robabl at the court of a Styrian bishop.

269
 Music in the life of the institutions

official reactions of the Church towari .

(d.1396). But the nusic uld be aune
different. At Notre Dame,
Paris, polyphonic singinp
nging was
fifteenth century A strange
mixture ot ofhcial and persone
outlawed in the
34) tcthiisonscondermna
to muse
XXIls Bull of 1324/5 (see
is contained in Pope John
was to some extent at variance wit
tion of 'modern music'
in its very personalized
form contr1buted to the huge task
derlines between ecclesiastical dignity and rldliness. The reliy
adideftiionn,ing butthe even
and lay preachers of the late Middle Ages often condemned
harshly. The attitudes towards music within these partisan oe music bar more
and church ups were o
ambiguous, and depended on religious
case
Locations for music in the church: hoir, nave and chap
Medieval thinkers took delight in classifying music (into musica
humana, instrumentalis or organica, for example). In a more concre
medieval church buildings are in themselves hierarchi structures where sense,
and its subdivisions have well-defined places. The separation of theehs
the nave, for example, makes architecture serve a musical purpose: inded
makes architecture define the order to which music is subjected. The d
serves for worship and the nave for propaganda, and the music made in
chor
either
location corresponds to those functions. Of the other characteristic locaions in
a medieval church among them the crypt, cloister and refectory the
-
-

developed into the most important place for music-making.

hapel
Choir' and chapel' are names given to architectural units as well as to musil
ensembles. Obviously, the 'choir' comprises the clerics who sing and pray in the
reserved space at the eastern end of a church building, the 'presbytery' or more
generally the 'choir'. This they do in the Divine Office, i.e. the 'Hours' (Matins
Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline), or at Mass. The liur
gical chant used there addresses God in the first place and the worshipers
themselves (not an 'audience) in the second, as does the psalmist of the Old
Testament. The psalms are the most typical example of the music performed
in the choir, ie. of 'choral' music. This can be seen in the antiphona' node
of performing the psalms, because it is an alternation of two groups of singers,
coinciding with the architectural layout of the choir itself.
Many other forms of music in the choir developed over the centuries, incl
ing 'responsorial' singing (solo-chorus response), as well as liturgical po
phony (organum) and organ music. Specialist members of the clerical communiuy
genres,
itself, such as vicars-choral' or choristers could be used to providethese
and even laymen could be hired to sing, conduct the specialist singers,
more specialize
the organ. Although they were largely soloist music, these

See Wright, Music and Ceremony.

See also pp. 298 1.

270
 Locations for music in the church

e nerformed in the choir. The designation 'choral', however,

dern genres
hose items of the liturgy which represented the original type

retaine e choir (psalms, antiphons, hymns etc.), so that the term came
nging in amanner of singing, or a large ensemble. The split between

ngs--.location vs. pertormance type - did not happen all at

o i n d i c

meanings
t h e t w o
about the sixteenth century was the purely musical mean-
and ony chorus' established. In German Protestant churches, 'chorale
once a n d chorus
t h e v e r n a c u l aar
r hymn tune sung by the congregation in the
f 'choir actually
Choral) is actually

understandai
dable, because the parishioners in the nave had now
This is
nave!

b e c o m e t hhe
e main
worshippers and
had inherited the dignity of choral singing
for the
rly reserved for clergyleading up
in the choirstalls.° Certain trends
reserved
be observed in the fifteenth century; the partic-
reversal of roles c a n
reversal

to
this
great

f unskilled o r halfskilledBut lay singers in church music is an important

on the whole, 'choral' music before the
here (see p. 283).
ipation
development he
as the plainchant sung in the choir by the
R e f
is to be understood
o r m a t i o

full ecclesiastical chorus.

main places for music-making in the church, the
Before we
look at
the other churches
it should perhaps be explained that all medieval
and chapels, hierarchic principles, whether large or
were organized accord rding to the same

differ
difference of degree existed between a cathedral or collegiate
aa
mall. Only
small. canons, mansionarii etc.)
the members of the 'chapter (the
church, where where that comnmunity
community, and a parish church,
headed the sacred churches
priests, chaplains and lower clergy. Collegiate
consisted only of parish no bishop or diocese; but
from cathedrals only by having
were distinguished others had to sing the daily Office and
either type of church the c a n o n s and
in and his assistant. (More often,
the guidance of the cantor
High Mass under for the lower clergy to perform.)
their vicars and left the music
the canons sent
in urban centres, the clergy were n u m e r o u s
In many parish churches, especially
were sometimes built in
choirstalls
and the
enough proper choir
to form a
Mass and
those of cathedrals. The choral singing of
such a way as to resemble churches and
most frequent in collegiate
the Divine Office was, of course,
was the staple fare for ordi-
cathedrals. Usually, the spoken Mass (missa lecta) and higher feasts;
Masses occurred only on Sundays
nary weekdays, and sung
the daily Office with all its 'seven Hours' (Matins
and Lauds being counted as
parishioners supported
one) was sung in parish churches only where wealthy
true 'patrons' of music and liturgy.
tnis costly exercise with endowments as
-

musical adornments such as polyphony.

Cr support also went to genuine themselves with four things:
rtnat to happen, parish churches had to provide and books of pricksong'
od-loft, an organ, additional clerks or "conducts", in the central European
gland, the Low Countries, probably in Paris, and

The Prot by converting many medieval hymns

musical continuity
t a n t churches demonstrated this
and antiphons into vernacular hymns.
Harrison, Britain, 197.

271
 Music in the life of the
institutions
area between Basle and Kraków, parish churches intro
in the course of the fifteenth century.
In monasteries and friaries, the 'choir was by
introduced polyphonig
and friars. But the participation of lay clerks, and definition
r that of the monk
specialof the
widely admitted, enriching the music inside: as well as ousical
music
as well
mon
The nave
sometimes admitted
is the place of assembly
as
tor the
special ceremoniesnces
to the choir for
laity -
outsid
Drine the
and
alvchoizatiro. n,
provided for the laity such as the 'parishioners Mass' noblesserviweeke
and the
Here, music was not a high priority; in the were alsalso
were
fifteenth centnr held in the
mon (preached increasingly in the vernacular) was ntury, the
tant.SundayAlso y
more
music heard in the nave had the function of se impe
organ music or processional music. Organs
propaganda, and so the
medieval churches: the top of the
were
dmin variousl ed mainly
choir-screen, or a
rood-loft.
locations, as may still be seen in many
could be heard, and often also seen, from English
churches. In this
Savoured
caveo
inside the choir as the orgam
nave, and could establish acoustic contact choir well
well ae
between the as
îrommthhe
mon
worshippers. Arnold Schlick (in I51I) and privileged
placed next to the singers in the choir and recommended that *hCOn
e
also near the organ be
good musical interaction during Mass;
the clergy in the choir and not
this implies that celebrant
the orpan
to
ensure a
the congregation. But Schl
able for the organ to be visible
from the nave so that hlick also finds it served
the church, its decoration and it can be
an
llaud
painting inspiring ornament
the organ on a side wall of the
nave seems a devotion
very old custom,
The position
instrument was meant to 'address' the
task of the organ in this parishioners from earlyproving on. The moi
that the
position would have been to main
through the nave. These were the rituals accompany processior
effect and sometimes full of music with a
characteristic propaganda SSIOnS
(the Palm Sunday
Hymns, responds, antiphons, litanies and above
all
procession, for example
genres often performed with the the Te Deum were
organ in processions liturgical
ously). Documents speak of the (alernatim or simultane
sions to the sound of the singing of the Tè Deum in
ended with the Te Deum organ,
and liturgical dramas
and mystery
thanksgiving proce
sung and played on the plays usually
public importance were celebrated with organ° When events of great
people joined in the singing of this a Te Deum, it is likely that the common
When instruments were best-known hymn of the Catholic
were confined
allowed into church in such
festive
Churc.
to the
nave, even if the event situations they
example), was located in the they celebrated (a coronation, l
Arnold Schlick,
presbytery. Trumpets, as the symbols of woru
Spiegel der Orgelmacher
1951), 15. und Organisten (151), ed. E. Flade enrenter.
A
description from Spain (Kassel ete.: Duu
alternatim during the (1465) is in Lamaña, Instrumentos', the Te
stopped when singing procession; the participants walked when 115:
theirs. the
Deu reS,and
424; Rokseth, La musique For other uses, see Marix, Histoire, 82; orga
Keprasentation in der d'orgue, 5o ff; Strohm, Bruges, 875875 Sabine Zak,
Roksetu,
'Fürstlicheu und städuiscn
(1984), 243 ff, 249 f. Kirche (Zur Verwendung von lienst), MD 8
Instrumenten im do

272
 Chapel music and its
performance
uld b e h e a r d eard in the nave when the dignitaries to whom they belonged
p o w e r

sere p r e s e n t
, c o u

eremony. The use of trumpets during the Gloria or in the

r t o r y p r o c e s s i c
n is documented. Even more
'propagandistic', in a sense,
drar the mystery plays and the forms of
admitted to the liturgical
liturgical
danc-
w e r e
the

ich
excluded from the choir but
were
nave. Sahlin 1
n g whic

a n c i e n t ritual
of the churches of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine and
reports an

Besançon, called.
at Besançon, called bergereta, which survived into the eighteenth cen- Saint
E t i e n n e

Easter Sunday, after l lunch and after the sermon, the clergy performed
tury; on E
roun nces (chore
und-dances (choreae) in the cloister oT, in case of rain', in the middle of the
cha me chants as contained in the processional. In another source,
some
singing
nave,

the hymn 'Saly

lve festa dies' is specifically indicated as being sung altematim
processional
dance,
this
during
Similar uses of music can be observed in connection with the external part

building. Processions go around the church (very often also around or

of the
the cemetery); mystery plays or pageants are performed in front of the
a c r o s s

the location where instrumentalists most often play,

nortal which is also
main
festivals.12 When in Nuremberg
congregatior at in 1433 the
ddressing large
waits went 'on the
choir (auf kor) of the main parish church to celebrate das
it around the building that
with fanfares, it was on the outer balcony
the emperor some of them secular
involved
different torms of music
-

thev plaved. Many

of the churches, because these were the
rhe
and other external parts
portals the church the world met. Last but not least,
the Church and
locations where the sound of the
outside worldwere acoustically linked by
building and the underscore festive events. That they
bells which were often used to
church served to publicize' the
heard both inside and outside the building
be
could
were rung, even if
these were taking place in the
which bells
ceremonies for
seclusion of the choir.

its performance
Chapel music and
late Middle Ages, however,
for music-making in the
he most important place this term assumed the
in the fifteenth century that
was the chapel. It was only whether part of a
ensemble. Before, it was a sacred place,
neaning of a musical
as
The word capella
allegedly originated
of St Martin of Tours
structure.
nurch or an independent which the cloak (cappa)
in
hame for the little building was not a meeting-place for worship but
rather

was In any case, a chapel which private

. connection it often
had an altar at
Contain relics. In that
ot
the question
assertions to the contrary,
d o c u m e n t s , See
Exam "Repräsentation' (see n. 9). Despite
settled. For
some
Zak, is far from
nstr than the organ) Strohm, Bruges, 86.
Moental playing in church (other Rastall,
Minstrelsy', 87;
o n the
patronal
Salmen, Spielmann, 77 f; dancing in the church
Sahlin. c T6; collective
(Croatia),
R e n a i s s a n c e , 758.
Reese,
In Dubrovnik see
47 . lasted until 1425:
feast-day t the practice
ccompanied by pipers; plates Tl4-
For picts Bowles, Musikleben,
Lres
of processional music. see

273
 the UltOrs
instatun

of
Music in the life

chaplain. In : the late Mi

read by a
specially
appointed

often
Kequiems)
became the
fratain
iddle AAgs,
main ppurpose
Masses
were
Masses
(very
amilies, fraternitie
families,
endowed
by
individuals,
Mao. and
privately chapels
built
belief
that the saying of Masses was a goodguild
the
ices had the same Wor
i n n u m e r a b l e

the due to services

was Tor such
expansion that to pay
This
to
salvation,
and

the greater
the
number of Masses
medie.
effec,
for somebody
oa

contributing

salvation
was
the
had
neatrer

o n the
development of lieval churches defhies
endowedurches

of which which this belief

effectthere was not actually led with
any
sprinkled
'chapels'
space. al the saying
A chapel and choars, fo o with chapels'
and
and endowed
The became

description:
they Was
dentifiable income for
an
meaning
concept only,
sense, a
legal
made sure that
certain Masses.
benefactors,
and indeed the princes,
liturgieal,Chapel
adorned with altars, liturgical vestments,
eir chapels
The richer however:
structures,
well-defined
paintings, liturgical books.
were
statues and panel very of
works of art including from the big choir organ) and
(to be distinguished
small organ were held in quild
also a
officiating clergy. When services
in chapels
personnel of cordoned oft or closed with iron gates to keep
Flemish churches,
the space was
princely chapels,
ion' consisted of the
the 'congregatior
non-members out. In
household alone. This
privatization of wareh: pis
prince, his friends and his
its main focus
was usually the Masses for thes ouls
understandable, because
deceased members of the guild or
confratern
or
of one or more ancestors,
the chapel. Many pictorial documents of the tin
who were buried within
that music-making was frequent in them 4
show chapel services, suggesting
and a small organ; archival documens
It often involved specialized singers
of the Mass Ordinary but also fr
confirm that polyphonic music, mainly
Vespers, emerged in the context private chapels in many fourteenth- and
of
fifteenth-century churches.15 The clergy who performed the music had often
learned the necessary skills not for the sake of the oficial liturgy in the choi,
to the wishes ot well-paying confraternities and benefactors
but according
the music for their chapels. As far as the famous Ghent altar panels
wanting
by Hubert and Jan van Eyck reflect contemporary reality, the music panels
show a typical chapel performance by specialized musicians. As is well known,
the painting was made for a private chapel in a wealthy parish church.
Princely chapels served, in the first place, for the saying of Masses (and
increasingly also the Divine Office) for the individual benefit of a ruler and
olain
family. Many of them had a full complement of officiating clergy, chaplau
priests, servers, sacristan, sexton, organist and often also choirboys. As build-
fiull
ings, they could be splendid independent structures. They were not

On
hurches. On
churches, having neither cure of souls nor supervision of other churu
13
}ak, Musik als Ehr und Zier, 136.
14
SeeBowles, Musikleben, plates 100, 108 and
15 III. a l and
Representative examples are
given in Strohm, Bruges,
Bruges, 15 (1417) and Forney, Music, r
patronage, 18-20 (15o6). The I5 For a cae
where not only the practice was by no means confined to the LoW tries.
Mass he
endowed
chapel and benefactor,thebut also the altar painting and
yphonic

can be
identified, see New Obrecht Edition, vol. 3 (1984), ed. B.
XI-XV

Hud

274
 Chapel music and its performance

e of the largest institutions - such as the Sainte-Chapelle

of St George's, Windsor, that of St Stephen's,

the chapel
t h e rh a n d ,

the
Paris, ris, hecame collegiate foundations with a full personnel of
t h e
n
or be
P a l a i s

endowed Royal foundations'16 orrespond the

-
w e r e

IVestminst
du stminster
t h e s e p e r m a n e n t l y

of the dukes of Burgundy. Plate 4 shows such a Bur

Canons uildings
hapel interior of.
chapel
2 a r o u sc h 55, during a Mass service.7 The prince is in
compartment to the right - and is engaged
the curtained-off

8undan
attendance
- in
and the ministers are officiating and other clergy in
the priest
hile plainsong book, held by one of them. Four choirboys
i np r a y e r ,
re singingfrom.a
entering while the Mass
are in the chapel,
some
front.
nv other people
in. These are household
Many
other
or family members; a
door-
looking
V i s i b l e .

just from entering. But the atmosphere

revent unauthorized people
are or
isg o i n go»
after
ems chamber when music was performed princely.
as in a actual Bur-
the miniature, if it refers to
k e e p e r .

almost an
in mind tha
be kept
i s r e l a x e d ,

this purpose
It
must be m

o n e of the many
u s t

buildings used for

shows just Hesdin,
Ghent, Bruges, Courtrai,
dinner.

g u n d i a n c h a ppel,
el,

territories (in Brussels, or city

Burgundian attached to the castles
Several of these were
i n t h e B u r g u n d i a n

Lille, Dijon, Beaui .). shown in the picture,

however,
owned. Ihe chaplains
the dynasty travelled with the duke,
palaces which
which
were one specific
group that
that the
the
choirboys,
went.8 One could say, therefore,
also wherever he Mass in 'one
singing Mass for him
and
musical ensemble) singing
(the
the ducal chapel'
miniature shows the
(the buildings).
time. At the Bur-
duke's chapels' and ducal chapels of the
of the daily in many
royal other places; see p. 178
Mass was sung
century (but there surely also in
in the fifteenth Mass except on
Mondays when
Oundian court
there was a daily
polyphonic
provided, and
was frequently
Bourges), Also the Oftice for
for
in plainsong. Compline. Liturgical polyphony
Requiem and
was a
at least Vespers the 'Salve regina")
liked to attend the Magnificat and
princes antiphons, cathedrals. The
services (including hymns, chapels as well as
these of princely themselves with
the c o n t e x t
originated in
have earliest to provide the
can
however,
were calendar. (See
richer
establishments,
covering many days of the
functional
polyphony
"sets' of
arge was not so
restricted

also pp. 248 t.) polyphony

the status of to be an
all kinds and sizes, but there still had
In chapels of the choir,
c o n s i d e r a t i o n s as
it was in could be partly
chapels
by liturgical observances in private
Ritual
orderly relationship. publication,
the s a m e
pictures in
16 Harrison, Britan, 2I. with similar
To be compared
musicale, pl. 133.
to
they used go
to
DOWles, Pratique
102. after c. 1430;
with Bowles, Musikleben, pl.
h o u s e h o l d see
ducal perform:
CSpecially the itinerant endowed
Masses to
to the
1 Choirboys were apparently not ot jpart of also had referring
where they a
document

school in Lille, Dijon and at The Hague 81 f(with The present Busnois, V r a n k e n z o n n e ) .

Higgins, Lille.
ruges, 94; Gauthier in
Marix, Histoire, 162 ff, Strohm, The Hague,
under
show the building
four choirboys at the 'domestic ochapel' chapel, may at architectural style
Burgundian The
a
of Flanders. pl.
miniature of c. I455, if intended to right is the lion
in Bowles,
represent Musikleben,

window to the miniature

The coat of arms
s In the circular similar
seems t century;
in the very
elong to the fourteenth
02, 3 romanesque building is shown.

275
 Music in the life of the institutions

mf come abrahims msue uul nenrstut muk mortek tu

Vunffo fon afie au pKe
lamomtaugne quat
aloit faaefca adseu
Amsi mou6 duonéno
egmet tlentace ilegtife en tenoncat
toute vmtt.ct piénde »festaek
net s f a s n t fon6 pcchic6 bemek
Jcelt esiue prtndze aw moftw confi
tco beovfe corjs lefiueaff auon la
benescoy Suprofit*mast f adunte
EFe faubveiofer deudteimentbs
.Lors
cfes fnnent fee pechiechsne
noue uone faluét mofve jëigie| T

histoires.
aes
4 The Burgundian chapel performing in a service. Jean Mansel, La fteur
n
(Bibliothèque Royale Albert lèr MS 9232, fol. 269r.)

276
 Chapel music and its perfommance

by the
aatrons; the French royal chapel was largely exempt from
patron

determined it did adhere to the liturgy of Paris which was reco-

vision
e p i s c o p a ls u p e r v ,
but
COpalhapel books. The dukes of Burgund followed this same liturgy,
the ch. f their itories belonged to the diocese of Paris. The Mass
territories
h oiu
ng h n o n e o f
d hose chapels would follow the missal and gradual of Paris.
in those.
Day'
sung
re would be a daily polyphonic Mass with 'votive' status,
ofthe
in addition
t o f which was chosen irom the formulas reserved for multiple
w h i c h w a s cho
text
ot

h e Proper probable
that thehe Burgundian chapel applied polyphony, in a
st
1.e

to the follo votive Mass

following VOtive Mass texts (and the sets used
pattern,
use.

chapels
diec
differed only slightly):
European
weekly

western

inoother Holy Angels

Mass of the
Tuesday:

Mass of St Andrew (the patron saint of the House of Valois)

Wedne: Mass of the Holy Ghost
Thursday:
Mass of the Holy Cross
Friday:
Mass of Our Lady
Saturday:
Mass of the Holy Trinity
Sunday: Mass of the Dead - in plainsong)19
(Monday:

Return once more to the miniature: we would, of course, like to know

and whether the representation can be deemed
niusic is being pertormed
what
strations of Richental's chronicle (see Plate 2), which
'realistic'. Jnlike the illust:
extraordinary events, this picture represents daily practice.
aimed at recording
a me The attitude of the celebrant and of his ministers is
Mass service.
shows a
It so this might be the
and the worshippers are mostly kneeling
-

that of prayer,
of the 'canon of the Mass', before the Elevation of the
noment of the prayers
would thus be singing the Sanctus. The book in front
Host. The chapel singers
does not look like the Mass Ordinary section of a gradual (the
of them, however,
with much text between the notes. It could
Kyriale), but rather like a hynmnary
be a Kyriale with trope texts, for example the Sanctus trope 'Ave verum corpus';
it certainly does not show polyphonic music. Of the nine individual musicians,
wo adults are not looking into the book and one boy cannot possibly see the
music. In such miniatures it often seems that the singers are following the
written plainsong only casually. They are either silent or singing by heart,
probably because the melody is well known. Of the two raised hands of singers
in front, one is clearly pointing to some notes near the end of the plainsong;
the other hand is that of the leader of the group who is giving rhythmic signs.
It is also of interest that the service takes place at night - as can be seen through
thedoor to the left, where a man is entering with a burning torch. The service
details can be understood literally must therefore be a votive Mass,
Pertormed in the evening or early morning
Mu olyphonic performance practice of chapel ensembles has been much
acd,but there was an enormous number of variations between the

Aller Planchart, 'Guillaume Du Fay's benefices,

I52.

277
 delete

L | elete
i n s t i t u t i o n s

the
of
the life
in
Music
ndian chapel under
arles the Bold
that only
B u r g u n d i

20 He conclu
the
of
tribution overadulthhe
Fallows.

ordinances David
uneven.
in
The evaluated by of
them,
institutions. tourteen

been
have Ideally

1469) used,
(of w e r e
setting

voices f o u r - p a r t

haules
voix)
male

vOice-parts
ofa six ( x
two (deux moiens)

C a n t u s : )
t h r e e (troys teneurs)
( C o n t r a t e n o ra l t u s : )
contres).
basses

(troys
three
onn the
sts o the top line
(Tenor:) bassus:)
talsettists

whose
alternative reading of the
requires

An alt
( C o n t r a t e n o r

argues,
Fallows number.

larger was actu

a r r a n g e m e n t ,

their per p a r t nging

This balanced by one
singer
jestions aho
about acoustic
is that only s e r i o u s
questions
tone effect
softer the more
to open
d o c u m e n t a t i o n ,
would
but the
would
be
possible
and from
1450 at latest aalso
tenors,
that A lenoriste
e c t i v e ranges.
us r e s ppective
balance. references
tell
their
archival in altus21 Was
Other specialists c o n t r a t e n o r

to
were
of the
basses
and
trebles,
leader.
The range above or (rarely) belou Con
extended

often the
ensemble's

a
little
more
melodically and rhythmically the
perhaps but
It seemestthat
-

tenor
that of the
important
to perform.
the least difficult

difficuh1but
was most
this therefore
the it was
trapuntally because
line and part,
not
to that whereas the
least
predictable
usualy
assigned
even
dispensable, high
and also svmh
were and
few singers deemed
unimportant
contrapuntal
-

ic
it was to the
because corresponded

tenor singers
of the to sino
status
to their ability
of their part. according
the end
selected
importance towards
-

were
probably (particularly d
Court chaplains handsome

princely chapelk
were
salaries
music. Their of these
mensural and the quality
century in Italian
chapels),
cathedral
ensembles. Only the petit-
of the that of most

have been
well above important
churches (for example
must
Cathedral and
of similarly
Chapel
vicaires of
Cambrai
Antwerp; probably also the Lady
Lady's,
Bruges, Our self-confident professional'
St Donatian's, Cathedral) formed highly
of Canterbury personnel were great,
singers the t u r n o v e r of
disruptions and
groups.
The internal
to and thus 'non-musica higher
talented young
men aspired
however: all these
ranks in the church
system.22 socn
petits-vicaires, or
(lay conducts), vicars-choral
The chaplains and clerks, ensemble. Enlargements
were made
backbone of any chapel
de musica, were the and/or choirboys
the addition of a small organ,
in many paces, however, by and organists.
seem to have rejected organs
withtheir master. Few establishments
at all (not even
This was the case at Cambrai Cathedral, which had no organ

20 Fallows, Specific information', I1o ff.

nds to the Englsh
The designation moien in the ordinances is a little unusual; it certainly corresponad
mene and the Latin medius, the latter name being used also in central burope

22 For a vivid sketch of the lifestyles of these singers, see Pirro, 'Cornuel.

278
 Chapel music and its performance

othis institution was widely tamous for its excellent singing, one
lainsong). ng)2 Sin roan playi
organ
playing was considered by some not as an embellishment
that
plaonclude
nclude for weaker ensembles. On the other hand, there surely was a tra-
m u s

h i c h t h e s o u n d of the organ was positively sought after, in chant aas well

c r u t c h ,

ch the sound
a
as
but whi
ditioni olyphonic music. As
music. As Lnic regards the precise modes of pertormance, each
as in
has to
be nsidered in its own right. Obrecht's 'Caput' Mass, for exam-
cons

document
een interpreted in:such a way as to require the organ to play the cantus
ple, has

throughout,
changing pitch levels. The huge endowments made
but on

of Charles the Bold, for the church

Burgundy (d.1482), daughter
f i r m u s

firmM a r y ooff Bu
by in Bruges ituted three sets of Masses of different solemnity:
r Lady
l o w e s
Masses were sung in plainsong, the next higher with discant,
-ranking
t - r a n k i n g

discant and organ. Since the exact terms of the

he h i g h e s t - r a n k nking with
tim of Maximilian of Habsburg (1496), when it was
date from the t
and

endowment da
possible that the important role of the organ in connection
orce, it is
in for
put welcome
first
lmhony reflect
with polyphony reflects Habsburg preferences.24 But organ-playing was
too. The premier chapelain of Charles the Bold, Philippe
the Burgundian chapel,
in the Burgundian«
members were trained organists. It is likely
S y r o n , a n d s e v e r a l other chapel

do not m e n t i o n the organ because its role was fixed

ordinances of I469
shat the
by traditional usage.
the
of course, traditional in church music throughout
Rovs' voices were, distinction
Schoolboys as well as choirboys (as far as there
was a
Middle Ages.
had specific musical tasks in the choir: the singing of lessons
herween them) Franco-
for example. During the fourteenth century, s o m e
and responsory verses,
began to train choirboys in polyphonic
Netherlands institutions apparently de Salve),
in chapels. The polyphonic Lady Mass (Missa
singing, especially
became a characteristic task of the small en
performed in the Lady Chapel,
with their master and one or two assistants.
semble consisting of the choirboys
all kinds of sacred polyphony, whether in small
By the 1420s, choirboys sang
at secular courts (such as Burgundy) o r the
chapels of collegiate churches,
traces their gradual admission to polyphonic sing-
papal chapel. Roger Bowers
the mid-fifteenth century, which
ing in English 'choral institutions from about
is astonishingly late.25 But already from about 1430, boy choristers had disap-

23 See Wright, Performance practices.

Ockeghem and Obrecht); Strohm, Bruges, 49
Seeon Planchart, 'Fifteenth-century Masses', II-17 (on
Maximilian). The central European traditions included by that time both the alternatim practice
see p. 519. Alternatim practices are described in Leo
and organ accompaniment for polyphony, 329-36 and 467-87; More,
28 (I942),
chrade,The organ in the Mass of the 15th century', MQ polyphony in western
Evidence for the organ accompanying
Organ-playing and polyphony'.
ritual and patronage, 18 ff. Fallows,
OeStrohm, Bruges, 15 and passim; Forney, 'Music, (n. 40) a document in
peciic 1nformation', appears unaware of the issue, but happens to quote
refer organ-discant collaboration (Mass endowment tor
, Hstoire, 163, which I believe to to

2sDalnte-Chapelle, Dijon, of 1425). Forsolo polyphony on the church organ, see pp. 373 t below.
Sowers, Choral Institutions, passim; Bowers, 'Performing pitch', 22: Prior to c.1450/60, there is no

evidence to suggest that the choristers were trained to participate in perfiormances ot composcd
Dolyphony'. But John Stele's Durham, dated by Bowers
contract at
c.

t, for the
to

negative
hinmself 1430, obliges him
ec pryksong'
evidence
to the boys. See also Bowers, 'English
concerning the fourteenth century.
church polyphony', I78

279
 Music in the life of the institutions

peared from the papal chapel (see p. 163), whereas the R.

their choristers to school in signated centres, where
polyphony (see n. 18 above). The rdinances of 148
rgundian dukes
they also pertormet
Two years later, Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan bepan not mention
ooan to
chapel exclusively of adults. When requesting the chapel
napel
Duchess of Savoy, to sing for him (because he wanted to
ofof his
neig a coun
asSemole hem
he specified that he was not interested in the boys26 On
poach the
the best singers
ghbour, the
institution such as Cambrai Cathedral relied on them other hand,mus an
for polyphonic
certainly in chapels and perhaps in the choir. Dufay's wil
that the choristers of the cathedral, with their master and two
ufay's will requested
form the four-part antiphon 'Ave regina celorum' at the 1474
this was the chapel ensemble 27
comne
composer sSideatstanths-,bepe
The main distinction between a princely chapel and
one attachad
one
is precisely that: the former is not attached to a
church. In this to a attached
nation 'chapel' could become independent from the this co
case, the desy church
the musical ensemble itself.28 A cathedral
building
ng and
and
come to desig
chapel', however,
owever, is mean
annex or little corner of the church where
clerics. Even the relatively self-contained
certain services are
held the properly
group of choirboys ar i
who regularly perform a certain votive ica erain
antiphon or MasMass in a Choral
are not therefore'chapel' themselves. They remain members certain
a
of t e
where they perform their main and usually their -

most onerous
-

The obvious consequence is that the church dutieeS.

musicians do their work
or more chapels for extra k imo
remuneration. "This they need,
lower-paid members of the cathedral choir, individual or being amana
is the force behind chapel music. In that collective patromaethe
sense, the prince or prelate ronage
tains his own chapel is nothing but a more who main.
distinguished patron who has eiten
his foundation a more permanent form. Unlike the
citizens or guilds, a
has to maintain all his chapel members prince
throughout. He pays them a 'fixed sa
ary' because he wants them to serve him exclusively and
sing at least
Vespers every day. Because of the many religious and ceremonial Mass and
fulfilled in a princely chapel (one may think, for needs to be
for the ruler's ancestors), it is no example, of all the Requiems
surprise that many of them counted 1o-20
men or more. These chaplains had to cater for
musicians were only a little group of
everything, whereas the cathedral
other priests, augmented
specialists within a choir of canons and
by extra chaplains for extra Masses.29 It is qute
erroneous to claim that the number of
three or four salaried singers of pol
26
Motta, Musici, 302 f (letters of 18
27 January and 30 October
1472).
Houdoy, Histoire artisthque, 410.
Early unambiguous uses of the word with that meaning are contained in Maris
Duke
Tecruiting letters' in Motta, Musici,
307 f: for example, 'havere alcuni
a una
Capella' (6 November 1472). Cantar P
Comparative figures for
fifteenth-century
They are very useful because
Italian chapels are given in
DACCo nd courdl
the author does not,
others have done, jumbie
as
conditions described here, the scale of ltalnan ca
ensembles together. Under the nolypheu
appears impressive. a

280
 Choir music and chapel music compared

account
-

as wehave them for some Italian churches

ral
music, in comparison with the two-figure
c a t h e

in
a
polyphonic
tus for
phony
On the contrary: the four singers of Milan
reveals a incely chapels.30
personnel o f pri example, were
only the salaried specialists of poly-
for
1430,

Cathedra
dral To
(biscantores). To th
about
their voices, choirboys and other clerics could those of
p h o n y( b s they were trained. (See alsop. 587.)
as far
The system is not
they
as
added
e
hat of northern cathedrals either, where specialized singers may
always arable to that
compara
vailable,
but besides the succentor nobody was engaged explicitly

confraternities dominated the life of a church so

h a v

for polyphony.

twvoilarge one or
as fixed employers
power that they almost functioned
times,
their spending
with the socii de musica in s o m e
m u c h
This can be said, for example, of
of San Giovanni' at Florence.32 The
o ft h e m u s i c i a n s .

F l e m i s h
s3l and of the 'Singers
c h u r c h e s 3 1

were amed after their main (but not only) place of duty,
singers
locale had the status of a chapel, or rather of
an
This
F l o r e n t i n e

baptistry.
c a t h e d r a l

trade guilds of the arte della lana and

he
he
of several chapels. The
neration responsible
i.e. of the wool and textile merchants,
were

3S di calimala, church of St John at 'sHertogenbosch

e
cathedral singers. The large parish
the Vrouwe Broederschap, a club
for
dominated by the Illustre Lieve
was
culturally
culturally mensural
for the music. On account of this,
who paid
wealthy burghers here already in the 1330s 33
was performed
nolvphony

music compared
Choir music and chapel
within a medieval church, and
between the different localities
The distinction and its pertormance, may
still have much
for the respective m u s i c
its relevance one day become concepts
as

Choir music' and 'chapel music may

to reveal.34 as musica da chiesa
and musica da c a m e ra

for fifteenth-century studies

significant also with different dealing
music. Are we perhaps
are for the study of Baroque
repertories?
likelihood that much of the provincial primitive
or
There is, first, a strong
described in the next chapter
was performed in the
polyphony which will be often cultivated in monasteries
where
was
choir. This repertory has older roots, the liturgical
encouraged, and also fits into
musical specialization was not greatly and
no connections between this music
context of choir services. Significantly, introduced
or the monastic community
private patronage are known; the clergy

'Music and cultural tendencies', 129 and 7.

n.
Pirrotta,
SSee Forney, Music, ritual and patronage, 6 f.
3 D'Accone, 'Singers.
Smijers, Broederschap, 5; see pp. 66 f above. Voices and instruments
in
made in Craig Wright,
r st suggestions in this direction have been in Perkins, Euphony,
the century: a conspectus',
of northern France during the fifteenth
sic
643-9.

28I
 institutions
Music in the life of the

initiative, above ll for the

al
own
their

modest
adornment
on
and for liturgical
genres
res which major feas
this
such as
Christmas
and Easter,
lessons and responsory
erses at Matins, or hymns.
vers acked aa
audience,
such as

endowed
polyphony
for a chapel (whether att t0
By con
a
trast,
privately
to a prince)
tends to be
modern mensural musie

laymen will
church
nd to concentrate
or

on
belonging
Mass and Vespers
as the two
services

(votive
which

Mass and votis

usually attend. hs
is either generic
liturgical application new feasts
and devotions.
secular allusio
sa

specific patron saints,

features interested in. TThis is not only a cor

such as lay patrons

would be rast of styles
cantus firmus Masses for Oui

eenth century Lady or foy

numerous

There are, for example, of the fifteer

but (before the end
feasts of the Sanctorale,
none for the highest
feasts of the Temporale:
the feasts of Our Lord
and other
practical
fixed days, including Christmas Easter. This must be
and Easter.
seasonally were endowed and caused due t ad
conditions. Polyphonic Masses
practical
duties for the clergy - and the clergy had more than enough to do on the ditihesonal
feasts. Christmas, Easter etc. constituted an older layer of service m
had become statutory, whereas the younger layer was optional. Theseen Dtional. These endowed
ceremonies filled in the gaps in the calendar, encouraged new specializatzations
among the clergy, created opportunities and answered personal wishes T
argued above (p. 237) that the emergence of the polyphon honic Mass cycle, have
particularly of the cantus firmus cycle, is connected with this sphere of mieand
usical
patronage. The motet and votive antiphon were even more characteristic
genres'. They were accretions to the liturgy and thus a priori not part of chapel
choral duties, although they might sometimes have been inserted into Masse
the
Office services in the choir: in place of the sequence or offertory, or during the
elevation or after the Deo gratias'. Much more often, motets were atacheds
votive services such as Marian Vespers or Compline in the Lady
Chapel (espe.
cially settings of the Salve regina), to suffrages and other brief endowed cer.
emonies in chapels, which comprised only a few prayers and
sions when motets were sung at stations in front of
chants, to proces.
special altars, and in more
secular contexts in schools and refectories.
There must have been some overlap between these
two types of music, of
course. Endowments for services in the
choir did happen,
churches where there was still especially in smaller
ble that Mass
opportunity expand and embellish. It is possi-
to
Ordinary settings of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries
Without cantus firmus were sometimes
performed in the
polyphonic singing in the choir on higher feastschoir,
for regular and evidence
In is not lacking
many areas, choral
discanting must have been
plainsong book' (supra librum), and this extemporized trom uof
this music has
been preserved. The
would be a reason why so
fauxbourdon and faburden repero
cribed above (p. 208), concentrated on Office and processional m u s i e n,d
as

as well
genres typically performed on or with the organ ca and
35
hymns, Maguya
Strohm, Bruges, 22.

282
 Functions of chapel music; Dufay's last works

teenth-century England, central Europe and Italy, there is

Finally, in fifte
honic singing of choral' items with at least the partici-
dence for polyphoni

Some ot these items are late representatives of the

l.illed clerics.
strongevide.

of English discant; the continental pieces are

analo-
practices
nitive
elaborations (Choralbearbeitungen),. This type of
music was
more p. hant
unlimited number of choir members
unlimited who sang the
Virtually
with a

erformable book o r by heart, whereas the

musical specialists, and
from the
This practice
llished and perhaps doubled the chant. modern
the organ, embellis
p l a i n s o n g

of choral performance in the

sense.
p e r h a p s

considered
the bbeginning in
m u s t
be.
the choir. itself, or by the members of the choir in procession and
u s e d in
t w a s

the great
organ ould be employed - and it could be heardmusic
collective
eithe
case
congregation
and bystanders. In this way, the
appreciated by to the community, whereas chapel
polyphony
and thee nave appealed
choir
of the rected to soloist listeners.
music choral
soloist distinction between soloist and
was tried to draw a
Manfred Bukofzer
music 36 Unfortunately, his criteria for
fifteenth-century sacred observed
polyphony in
weak: a h o m o p h o n i c - d e c l a m a t o r y
style c a n be
were
shoral polyphony' number of performers per
fifteenth-century chapel
music, but a large
mich for example,
used. This problem arises,
be: shown to have been of sixteen and
rarely an ensemble
not a 'choir but
can
part
royal chapel, institu
with the Englishwith the ducal chapel of Ferrara, a particularly refined other
more
soloists, or
double-chorus music for psalms and
composed The label
specially (See also p. 604.)
tion where devotion i n a tiny audience.
inspired in works around the periobd
Office chants with "Unus' o r an equivalent
alternation like ripienists'
Chorus' in carols, m e a n s something
and also in some
Ciconia and Dufay, fifteenth century had
of Cathedral in the later
'soloists'. Cambrai w e r e often copied
as opposed to that the compositions
of polyphony
so many good
singers Nevertheless, the performers
could see the music.
in duplicate, so
that everyone choral music does not
trained soloists. Finally,
were not a
choir' but highly but rather where
one singer per part,
is m o r e than
where there
simply arise even the non-specialist,
kind that potentially everyone,
the music is of such started in the fifteenth
a cen-

least how choral polyphony in

can join in37 This is at music (and Kantorei music, see below)
with chapel
tury, before it merged
the Renaissance.

works
music, and Dufay's last
The functions of chapel
of the
and the antiphon-motet
votive antiphon
cantus firmus Mass, the usually originated
ne main genres of chapel music,
ntteenth century, as the individual or
collective
r commissions by
Cndowments or other special
36 Bukofzer, choral polyphony). "Mensural
Studies, ch. V ("The beginnings of enough) in Hughes,
not consistently
(although perhaps
Dolun ennition is developed
polyphony for choir', and Hughes, 'Choir.

283